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Xeromphalina campanella or Omphalina campanella is a mushroom that belongs to the large genus Xeromphalina, the Mycenoceae family. It has a hymenophore with rudimentary plates.
What do xeromphalina campanulae look like?
This mushroom is very small. The size of its cap is similar to a 1-2 kopeck coin, and does not exceed 2 cm in diameter. The color of Xeromphalina bell-shaped is orange or yellowish-brown.
The hat has a rounded convex shape with a characteristic depression in the center, visible at the edges. In older specimens, it may straighten out completely or even curl up.Rare plates descend along the stem; they are colored yellowish-orange or cream. If you look closely, you can see the transverse veins connecting the plates to each other. The surface of the cap is smooth, shiny, radially striped due to the plates translucent from below; in the center its color is more saturated - dark brown, and lighter at the edges.
The very thin fibrous stalk has a thickness of 0.1-0.2 cm and a height of 1 to 3 cm. In the upper part it is colored yellow, and in the lower part it is orange-brown with fine white pubescence along its entire length. The leg has a cylindrical shape, slightly widened at the top, with a noticeable thickening at the base. The flesh of the mushroom is thin, reddish-yellow, without a distinct odor.
Where do Xeromphalina bellflowers grow?
They grow on rotting wood, most often pine or spruce. In the forest they are found in numerous colonies. These mushrooms are typical for natural zones with a temperate continental climate, where the average air temperature in July does not exceed 18 °C, and winters are harsh and cold. Coniferous forests at these latitudes are called taiga. Bright orange caps are easy to spot on tree stumps in May. The fruiting season lasts from late spring to late autumn.
Is it possible to eat Xeromphaline Campanulata?
Nothing is known about the edibility of the mushroom. No research has been carried out in the laboratory, and experts do not recommend tasting unfamiliar representatives of the mushroom kingdom, which are very similar to the deadly poisonous galerinas. Due to its small size, the mushroom cannot be of nutritional value.
How to distinguish xeromphaline campanulates
The genus Xeromphalina has 30 species, of which only three are found in Western Siberia - K. bell-shaped, K. cauliform and K. cornu. It is quite difficult to distinguish these mushrooms; the most reliable way is microscopic examination.
Xeromphalina bell-shaped differs from the other two representatives of its genus growing in Russia in its earlier and longer fruiting. The other two species appear only in mid-summer. These mushrooms also have no nutritional value due to their small size and are inedible.
An inexperienced mushroom picker may confuse Xeromphalina campanulata with the deadly poisonous Galerina carinatum. However, the latter is slightly larger in size; its cap does not have a depression in the middle and does not have transparency, thanks to which the lamellar hymenophore is clearly visible.
Conclusion
Xeromphalina campanulata grows in coniferous forests from May to November. Most often, the mushroom can be found in the spring; the first wave of fruiting is the most abundant. This species has no nutritional value due to its tiny size, and nothing is known about its toxicity.
